Nursery World - A parent's guide to vegetarianism

There are a variety of reasons why parents may choose to raise a young child as vegetarian, for example, religious, ethical or health-related.

Whatever the motivation, excluding meat from the diet could have nutritional risks for a young child but, with careful attention and planning, a healthy balanced diet can be achieved.

Will a vegetarian weaning diet be dangerous for my baby?

There is no reason why a meat-free weaning diet cannot be perfectly healthy for a baby or young child. By six months, babies' iron stores start to become depleted, so offer iron-rich alternatives to meat at least once a day, building up to twice. Examples include tofu, beans, lentils, chick peas, houmous, fortified breakfast cereals and dark green vegetables. After a year, if you are worried about your child's eating, you could give a 'growing up milk', which will be fortified with iron. A vegan diet, free from all animal products, is not recommended for babies.

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